As UASs become more prevalent in the National Airspace System (NAS), operations by commercial industry, science missions, and hobbyists are desired to extend to urban environments. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires proof of safe operations to a very high degree of confidence to authorize use of any aircraft over populated areas. Without a pilot to provide decision support for emergency situations, however, UASs will have to rely on an on-board autonomous emergency management system to select a safe landing site with a landing site selection module, direct the possibly disabled vehicle to that site, and inspect the area to ensure it is clear of people and assets.
Considerable resources are currently being expended to evolve the UAS flight management systems for their intended missions for large UASs (e.g. heavier than 55 pounds). However, there is a need for an improved approach to performing emergency flight management, particularly as UASs become more prevalent and are used for more applications.